Destination Marketing & Sport Tourism

Sport tourism is much more than just one-off sport activities. It can form a unique culture at the destination, enhance long term tourism development and certainly has great economic benefits as one of the fastest growing and more profitable tourism sectors; that is if planned and developed appropriately.

Apart from the direct revenue that high spending sport tourism visitors can bring to the destination, there are also indirect benefits to look for when developing and promoting sport tourism and especially the great potential of favourable word of mouth and increased media attention to sustain and increase a positive destination image. Here are some recent cases of destinations embracing the sports industry in various ways.

Real Madrid Resort Island

One of the world’s biggest and best supported football clubs, Real Madrid, recently revealed more details of its ambitious plan about the world’s first ‘sportainment’ destination on Al-Marjan Island in Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK).

The 50-hectare resort will be the flagship of the Al-Marjan Development and aims to attract one million visitors a year when it is completed in January 2015. RAK had been chosen for the pioneering project due to the Emirate’s location, equidistant between Europe and the Far East, home to half the estimated 300 million fans and followers of the club, according to Perez, President of Real, in an innovative way in which football clubs try to make money.

The first recreational tourism complex built under the Real Madrid trademark will be a comprehensive sporting destination complete with luxury hotels, a marina and amusement park featuring the use of latest technologies such as hologram animations. It will also house a 10,000-seat stadium, the first in the world to open directly open to the sea, as well as sports facilities, a club museum, shopping mall, private beaches and residential areas.

Perez added: ‘This is a decisive and strategic step that will enhance the strength of this institution in the Middle East and Asia, a key region in which the passion for this club is very apparent and growing. The project may be seen as unusual for a football club, but we feel this will set a trend across the industry as clubs try to find new ways to make money.”

The development is a decisive step forward towards the emirate becoming a tourism destination in its own right. By 2021, RAK expects around 20 percent of its GDP will be generated by tourism-related activities, which even by 2011 figures would mean the industry would be generating in excess of $1 billion per year, an excellent return on investments currently under way.

Source: www.realmadrid.com

Tourism Ireland & Lyon Football Club

To capitalise on the huge exposure of the club’s home games, highly visible sideline ads for Ireland will urge French consumers to ‘vibrez au rythme de l’Irlande’ (part of Tourism Ireland’s brand new ‘Jump into Ireland’ campaign) until the end of the football season in May at Stade Gerland. The new deal marks the start of Tourism Ireland’s ambitious plan to increase visitor numbers from France.

OL is one of the most popular football clubs in France with a huge following right across the country. Around 5 million TV viewers will see Lyon games when they air on top French TV stations including Canal Plus, Orange and Sports Plus.

Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar said: “This is a great example of innovative thinking, which will raise awareness of Ireland as a tourism destination in some five million French living rooms. Competition from rival tourism markets is getting ever more intense, so we need to constantly find new ways of selling Ireland as a tourism destination. I’m also delighted to see sporting occasions being used to promote Irish tourism in this manner.”

France is Ireland’s fourth largest overseas tourism market. Following our extensive review of the French market last year, Tourism Ireland has put an ambitious plan in place to increase the number of French holidaymakers by +40% over four years, according to Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland.

“We are targeting a number of new consumer segments which we believe have strong potential for growth, including a younger and more active audience – hence our partnership this spring with Olympique Lyonnais. French holidaymakers are younger than average and it is now easier than ever to get to the island of Ireland from all parts of France, including from Lyon with a year-round flight operated by Aer Lingus. “

Source: www.tourismireland.com

Spain: New Tourism Campaigns for Madrid & Valencia

Real Madrid’s players as Spanish Brand Ambassadors

Legendary football club Real Madrid had signed a deal to promote Spain and Madrid as tourist destinations in April.

The new marketing campaign “Visit Spain, Visit Madrid”  is now ready and shows all of Real Madrid’s star players, like Cristiano Ronaldo act as “brand ambassadors” for both the Spanish capital and the country as a whole.

Tourism authorities expect the three-year agreement will reach a potential audience of over 300 million people because of Real Madrid’s worldwide fan base.

A Spanish Tourist Office spokeswoman had commented after the agreement was secured: “This is a groundbreaking agreement in which both Madrid and Spain will be promoted internationally through one of the most renowned clubs worldwide promoting both tourism brands to all corners of the globe.

“The agreement, valid for three years, will allow the public institutions to use the main players of the club as ‘Spain and Madrid brand ambassadors’ in various international advertising campaigns. The agreement also provides for the utilisation of advertising space in each of the official matches in the league and the Cup to be held in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium organised by Real Madrid.”

Source: www.realmadrid.com

Valencia launches new global marketing campaign

The Valencia Region Tourist Board has launched a new five million euro (£4.4 million) global marketing campaign to promote the destination – including the Benidorm, Valencia Terra i Mar, Costa Blanca and Castellon brands – both nationally in Spain and internationally in key markets including the UK.

Using the strapline “Intense experiences must be shared”, the two-year multi-media campaign is centred around the traveller as generator of content and key influencer through the use of social media.  It combines innovative online, social media and street marketing with traditional media advertising and PR.

Regional Tourism Minister , Belen Juste, explains: “Travellers nowadays like sharing their holiday experiences with others on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Flickr; they read other people’s comments or travel blogs before planning their holiday; and use their mobiles to stay informed and connected before, during and after their trip.  Our new campaign reflects all this, building on some of the initiatives that we have already introduced, such as blogger fam trips, mobile apps and advergames.”

The campaign aims to promote the region’s diverse tourism offering which includes beaches, city breaks, interior tourism, major events, rich gastronomy, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy golf, hiking, diving and water sports.

The new global campaign kick-started this week in Spain with a major promotion at Madrid’s Atocha train station, departure point for the new AV E high-speed train to Valencia, and a series of TV and radio ads that invite consumers to live intense experiences in the Valencia Region.  This will also be the theme of a special roadshow which will visit 11 European cities including Liverpool and Birmingham.  Other activities planned include the creation of themed microsites on http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com, YouTube branded channels, more advergames and new mobile phone applications to help visitors make the most of their trip to the Valencia Region.

Source: www.breakingtravelnews.com

Tourism Ambassadors: Show them what we’ve got!

Utilizing local people and their experiences,  as representatives of the tourism brand  is a method that several Tourism Boards have used in order to strengthen the “local knowledge-authenticity” factor and their brand proposition. In order to have positive results based on set targets there appears to be one essential condition: that the selected ambassadors are true  representatives of the brand essence.

Scottish ambassadors as the face of Scotland’s brand essence

2011 will see the continuation of International Marketing’s flagship ‘Scotland. Welcome to our Life’ Pan-European Touring Campaign, featuring a “Meet the Scots” theme – a group of people whose lives and work link to key Scottish tourism themes.

VisitScotland’s major European tourism campaign, Meet the Scots, has delivered almost £97million in additional tourism revenue for Scotland.

The Scots are the conduit for the campaign messages and represent the “Human” element of the brand essence “Dramatic, Human, Enduring”. They represent the warmth and passion of the Scottish people and offer insider knowledge to consumers.

Car touring remains the largest leisure tourism market to Scotland from Europe and the campaign promotes touring holidays with a particular focus on Seasonality – to attract visitors in the shoulder seasons, thus addressing one of the levers for growth, Capacity Utilisation.  Additionally the campaign aims to generate higher spend per trip and to contribute to VisitScotland’s geographic spread objective by encouraging visitors to explore more of Scotland.

Authenticity is an important driver in holiday choice for its target consumers, as is a desire to engage with the locals of the country they are visiting. The Scots are utilised in VisitScotland’s marketing activity to underline the authentic nature of a holiday in Scotland, whilst also pushing the scope for social engagement. Each Scot represents a particular theme and delivers information and tips associated with that theme. They are also featured on the campaign websites with information on who they are, what they do and they also provide consumers with personal tips and suggestions for things to do in every month of the year.

Source: www.pressandjournal.co.uk, www.visitscotland.org

Jessica Watson promotes 2011 Queensland Season of Sailing campaign

The $100,000, 2011 Queensland Season of Sailing campaign will promote all the fantastic sailing events along Queensland’s stunning coastline between April 22 and September 6, with regattas in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Central Queensland, the Whitsundays and Townsville.

Queensland is Australia’s premier sailing destination and this campaign encompasses a wide range of stay and sail experiences which are bound to make Sydneysiders and Melbournites want to leave the cold southern winter to live it up on the Queensland coast. The premise behind this year’s campaign is to encourage visitors to experience a sailing event and book a holiday package with their friends and family. It’s about promoting opportunities for visitors to experience Queensland’s sailing events first hand, enjoy all that the sailing destinations have to offer, take to the water and learn how to sail, have a bareboat adventure or enjoy a charter cruise.

Ms Jarratt, Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business said Tourism Queensland was thrilled to have Queensland sailor and Young Australian of the Year Jessica Watson onboard again as the 2011 Queensland Season of Sailing ambassador. “Jessica is a genuine Queensland inspiration who has developed an international profile, which makes her the perfect fit for Queensland’s Season of Sailing campaign. She is also a proud Queenslander who has the ability to raise the profile of Queensland’s Season of Sailing even further in 2011.”

This initiative provides people with a unique incentive to visit Queensland’s regional holiday destinations during the traditionally slower winter months.Queensland’s 2011 Season of Sailing campaign will be promoted through print ads in newspapers and sailing magazines, online and via social media as well as at a grass roots level via Yachting Australia’s members.

Source: tourismqld.blogspot.com

Tourism Calgary turned to Calgarians to help advertise their city

Tourism Calgary is turning to Calgarians to help advertise their city with a fully integrated and user-generated regional marketing campaign that kicked off in March.

The “Capture Wow” campaign invites locals to upload descriptions and photos of their biggest “wow” experiences in Calgary at CaptureWow.ca, said Gisele Danis, vice-president of Tourism Calgary. The best photographs will be used in an online and traditional advertising campaign called “Experience Wow” later this year in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.

Danis said user-generated photography was a way to extend Tourism Calgary’s “small” marketing budget. “We can’t afford the half-million dollars many cities spend on photography for their campaigns, so we turned to the locals, the real experts.”

All pictures will remain on the Capture Wow and Tourism Calgary websites throughout 2011, said Danis, “and we believe they will tell the inside story that Canada’s fourth largest city is a place that offers world-class experiences. The campaign supports the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede next year and the city’s bid to be the 2012 Cultural Capital of Canada”.

Source: www.marketingmag.ca, CaptureWow.ca

Real Madrid’s Football Players as Brand Ambassadors for Madrid and Spain

Legendary football club Real Madrid has signed a deal to promote Spain and Madrid as tourist destinations.

The deal means that the club’s star players such as Cristiano Ronaldo will act as “brand ambassadors” for both the Spanish capital and the country as a whole through the “Visit Spain, Visit Madrid” campaign. Tourism authorities expect the three-year agreement will reach a potential audience of over 300 million people because of Real Madrid’s worldwide fan base.

A Spanish Tourist Office spokeswoman said: “This is a groundbreaking agreement in which both Madrid and Spain will be promoted internationally through one of the most renowned clubs worldwide promoting both tourism brands to all corners of the globe.

“The agreement, valid for three years, will allow the public institutions to use the main players of the club as ‘Spain and Madrid brand ambassadors’ in various international advertising campaigns. The agreement also provides for the utilisation of advertising space in each of the official matches in the league and the Cup to be held in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium organised by Real Madrid.”

Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon:
“This city’s most important asset, and that which we feel most proud of, is Real Madrid and its values, which is what we want to promote around the world. In large part it belongs to all Spaniards, because you are ambassadors of Spain.”

Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce Miguel Sebastian:
“Real Madrid is an icon of Spain. It is a winning team and one of the most visible clubs on an international level, but what we must promote is its culture of hard work and the excellence in its genes.”

Source: www.realmadrid.com, www.ttglive.com